Explained: Why is Nat Geo’s NFT collection receiving a massive backlash?

Over the last couple of years, hundreds of the world's largest brands have hopped onto the NFT bandwagon. The latest to throw their hat into the digital artwork arena is the iconic, 135-year-old National Geographic magazine. However, quite surprisingly, the magazine’s debut NFT project has received a lot of flak from users, with some even asking for the collection to be deleted.

Tag along as we tell you more about Nat Geo’s maiden NFT initiative and why it is at the receiving end of user vitriol.

Recently, the world-renowned nature magazine National Geographic posted pictures of the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFTs on its social media handles. These posts were meant to educate the magazine’s audiences about NFT technology and prepare them for the magazine’s very own NFT project.

A few days later, on January 17, National Geographic released a debut collection of NFTs on the Polygon blockchain, featuring photographs by sixteen different photographers. The NFT collection is called ‘Good Morning: Daybreak Around the World’ and it celebrates the 135th anniversary of the revolutionary magazine.

John Knopf, Mia Forrest, Reuben Wu, Delphine Diallo, Cath Simard, and Justin Aversano are some of the photographers involved in the project. Each of these 16 photographers will submit one click of a sunrise from around the world. Each of these photographs will have 188 copies, resulting in a total of 1,888 NFTs.

Each NFT is priced at 215 MATIC, which is roughly $200 as per current prices. The sale of the NFTs goes live today. Nat Geo has chosen to go with a blind sale, which means that users will not know which NFT they have purchased until later on. This add fairness and fun to the purchase.

Although NFTs were a sensation throughout 2021, the crypto winter has caused the market to slump by over 60 percent. Major NFT collections saw their floor prices drop significantly and the market is yet to recover. Moreover, NFT collections such as the BAYC have no intrinsic value. They are merely digital images of apes in different outfits and backgrounds. That’s why seasoned investors have their reservations against BAYC and other similar NFT collections.

For instance, Bill Gates once tore into the BAYC NFT collection saying, "I mean, obviously expensive digital images of monkeys are gonna improve the world immensely." Perhaps, it is for this reason that Nat Geo’s BAYC and NFT posts received so much backlash. Users commented saying that the digital artwork NFT approach is an "extinct species" and "a bubble that has already popped." Other comments urged Nat Geo to "delete" the collection.

Also, blockchain technology is known for its high energy consumption. This could lead some users to believe that Nat Geo’s NFT collection would result in carbon emissions and hurt the environment; another reason why the collection has received backlash. However, Polygon, the network on which Nat Geo’s NFT collection will be released, is a carbon-neutral blockchain. Moreover, Polygon itself is built on top of the Ethereum network, which just reduced its energy consumption by 99.99 percent in September 2022.

Additionally, NFTs haven’t hit mainstream adoption yet. Therefore, the masses are not fully aware of the technology. This may lead users to form a half-baked, possibly even negative opinion of these assets. This could explain why some users called Nat Geo’s NFT collection a "scam" and "another way to launder."

Nat Geo also received flak for a myriad of technical glitches during the NFT minting process. The platform responsible for minting, Snowcrash NFT, struggled to fulfil customer requests as Polygon had just undergone a hard fork, leaving several wrinkles to be ironed out.

Of course, this caused a lot of frustration among followers. "Your partner Snowcrash crashed, communication is terrible, discord off? Really. This is scam behaviour. Feels like a rug... you are better than this @NatGeo," said one user on Twitter. "Complete fail. Been trying to mint for 6 hrs. Ouch," another user said.

Other users pointed out the interoperability issues with Snowcrash. This means that the trading of Nat GEO NFTs could be restricted to this single platform only. This led to even more backlash. "Poorly handled minting process @SnowcrashNFT. Hoping you plan on making this sellable on Opensea too, have not received comments on this yet," said one user. "This is the only platform you can trade the NFTs on afterwards? Not sure if you can handle it," another user wrote.

However, backlash against NFTs isn’t new. A few months ago, Netflix released an NFT game for the second season of its hit show, Stranger Things. It was met with severe vitriol for its technical glitches.

Even in the gaming industry, NFTs are generally looked down upon by enthusiasts. Hardcore gamers have taken offence to the in-game money-making schemes that NFT platforms employ. Such games often require users to make heavy upfront investments to begin playing. This shifts the focus toward earning rather than having fun and playing the game.

While several of the comments on Nat Geo’s post were negative, a majority of them congratulated the magazine on its maiden NFT endeavour. Several NFT artists and creators also came out in support of the collection. "Love to see such a premiere name in photography recognize the future of technology," said director, photographer and artist, Ravi Vora.

Ryan Hawthorne, an artist who has released Ethereum NFTs with the prestigious Sotheby’s auction house, defended the collection against all the backlash it was receiving. "Welcome to the comment section, here you’ll witness a sea of people hating on what they don’t understand in their natural habitat," Hawthorne said. Further, several users commented saying they couldn’t wait to get their hands on an NFT from the collection.

When a brand as large as National Geographic decides to foray into a new and largely unproven industry, it is bound to create waves. Moreover, with everyone entitled to an opinion on social media, there are bound to be some negative comments. Some users will criticize and others will point out flaws. However, it makes sense for Nat Geo to venture into NFTs. If digital images of apes with no real meaning can sell for millions, actual images captured by legendary photographers should also do well. Just remember to do your own research and invest only as much as you can afford to lose.